I was having a wonderful lunch with a Cathedral parishioner today and the topic turned to a liturgical shift that we made one Sunday recently. She very graciously voiced her objection and we talked about the process that went into the decision. And then she said:
"Did you ask the Chapter?"
To which I said, "No. Because liturgy is not the Chapter's responsibility. Liturgical decisions are entrusted to the clergy."
If this person -- not only a longtime Episcopalian but a longtime Cathedral parishioner -- was not clear on this point, it's clear to me that we have done a poor job of being clear about how we share leadership at Christ Church Cathedral. Who is responsible for what?
The head of the church is Jesus Christ. And insofar as all of us exercise leadership in the church, it is us wrestling together with the question "What would Jesus have us do?"
At Christ Church Cathedral, the primary group that leads that process on a big-picture level is the Chapter -- 12 Cathedral members elected at annual meeting and 6 clergy and laity elected from the diocese at diocesan convention. If you read Chapter Notes each week, you'll see printed on the side column the following description of Chapter's charge. Chapter
*sets the vision for Christ Church Cathedral
*is the policy-making body for the Cathedral
*shares in the spiritual leadership of the Cathedral
*has fiduciary responsibility for the Cathedral finances (sets the budget, etc.)
Some examples of this:
*Chapter is leading a process of discerning what our shared, core values are as Christ Church Cathedral ... values that will drive our mission in years to come. We (I'm a part of Chapter too, just not a voting member) are designing and will lead processes of engaging the congregation, diocese and downtown St. Louis in this work. This is a part of our vision-setting for Christ Church Cathedral.
*This week, Chapter will be discussing the role of political action in the life of Christ Church Cathedral. That is part of our policy-making vocation.
*Chapter members regularly attend worship, pray for the Cathedral regularly and strive to be guided by the Word of God in scripture and as experienced in our own history. We greet people at the 10 am service as part of embodying our ministry of hospitality. That is part of our vocation to spiritual leadership.
*Chapter is continually looking for ways to make our life together more sustainable financially and is working on a process to build broader ownership of the future of the Cathedral among the people of the Cathedral, the diocese and the city. That is part of our vocation to fiduciary responsibility.
In all of these things, leadership is not about "doing it all ourselves" but, well, leading! That's why I hope you are talking to your Chapter members but also asking them "what can I do to help?"
You'll notice liturgy is not on that list. The chief liturgical officer of the Cathedral is Bishop George Wayne Smith. He delegates that authority to me (reserving the right to intervene or countermand) and I, in turn, delegate it to our Vicar, the Rev. Canon Amy Cortright (though, like the Bishop, I reserve the right to intervene, and Amy and I certainly work as a team in discussing things).
But having authority is not a license to do as we please. The authority we have over the liturgy is a sacred trust. We have the authority for the glory of God, for the building up of the body of Christ and on behalf of Christ's people, the church. So our decisions must be informed by prayer, listening and conversation. And that is what we try to do.
Amy and I have started meeting twice a month with Canon Precentor Pat Partridge, to make sure we are working well as a team. Amy and Head Verger Shug Goodlow meet regularly as well as regular consultations with Altar Guild Director Myrna Wacker. And we love it when people come and lovingly share their thoughts ... and are looking for ways to make that easier. We listen, think, converse, pray ... and, like everyone else, we make the decision we believe is our best shot at "What would Jesus have us do?"
Why is this important for Christ Church Cathedral?
We are all the Body of Christ and each of us is gifted differently with different functions within the body. But it is not the ministry of a few but shared ministry of the whole. The clergy and lay leaders who have authority over the life of the Cathedral exercise that authority with and on behalf of the people ... together all of us striving to be the Cathedral God dreams for us to be. It's important that we are all clear about the structures of how decisions are made and by whom ... so we can all participate in the process?
What do you think?
Do you have any questions about how decisions are made at Christ Church Cathedral? Does this make sense to you? Any other thoughts?
"Did you ask the Chapter?"
To which I said, "No. Because liturgy is not the Chapter's responsibility. Liturgical decisions are entrusted to the clergy."
If this person -- not only a longtime Episcopalian but a longtime Cathedral parishioner -- was not clear on this point, it's clear to me that we have done a poor job of being clear about how we share leadership at Christ Church Cathedral. Who is responsible for what?
The head of the church is Jesus Christ. And insofar as all of us exercise leadership in the church, it is us wrestling together with the question "What would Jesus have us do?"
At Christ Church Cathedral, the primary group that leads that process on a big-picture level is the Chapter -- 12 Cathedral members elected at annual meeting and 6 clergy and laity elected from the diocese at diocesan convention. If you read Chapter Notes each week, you'll see printed on the side column the following description of Chapter's charge. Chapter
*sets the vision for Christ Church Cathedral
*is the policy-making body for the Cathedral
*shares in the spiritual leadership of the Cathedral
*has fiduciary responsibility for the Cathedral finances (sets the budget, etc.)
Some examples of this:
*Chapter is leading a process of discerning what our shared, core values are as Christ Church Cathedral ... values that will drive our mission in years to come. We (I'm a part of Chapter too, just not a voting member) are designing and will lead processes of engaging the congregation, diocese and downtown St. Louis in this work. This is a part of our vision-setting for Christ Church Cathedral.
*This week, Chapter will be discussing the role of political action in the life of Christ Church Cathedral. That is part of our policy-making vocation.
*Chapter members regularly attend worship, pray for the Cathedral regularly and strive to be guided by the Word of God in scripture and as experienced in our own history. We greet people at the 10 am service as part of embodying our ministry of hospitality. That is part of our vocation to spiritual leadership.
*Chapter is continually looking for ways to make our life together more sustainable financially and is working on a process to build broader ownership of the future of the Cathedral among the people of the Cathedral, the diocese and the city. That is part of our vocation to fiduciary responsibility.
In all of these things, leadership is not about "doing it all ourselves" but, well, leading! That's why I hope you are talking to your Chapter members but also asking them "what can I do to help?"
You'll notice liturgy is not on that list. The chief liturgical officer of the Cathedral is Bishop George Wayne Smith. He delegates that authority to me (reserving the right to intervene or countermand) and I, in turn, delegate it to our Vicar, the Rev. Canon Amy Cortright (though, like the Bishop, I reserve the right to intervene, and Amy and I certainly work as a team in discussing things).
But having authority is not a license to do as we please. The authority we have over the liturgy is a sacred trust. We have the authority for the glory of God, for the building up of the body of Christ and on behalf of Christ's people, the church. So our decisions must be informed by prayer, listening and conversation. And that is what we try to do.
Amy and I have started meeting twice a month with Canon Precentor Pat Partridge, to make sure we are working well as a team. Amy and Head Verger Shug Goodlow meet regularly as well as regular consultations with Altar Guild Director Myrna Wacker. And we love it when people come and lovingly share their thoughts ... and are looking for ways to make that easier. We listen, think, converse, pray ... and, like everyone else, we make the decision we believe is our best shot at "What would Jesus have us do?"
Why is this important for Christ Church Cathedral?
We are all the Body of Christ and each of us is gifted differently with different functions within the body. But it is not the ministry of a few but shared ministry of the whole. The clergy and lay leaders who have authority over the life of the Cathedral exercise that authority with and on behalf of the people ... together all of us striving to be the Cathedral God dreams for us to be. It's important that we are all clear about the structures of how decisions are made and by whom ... so we can all participate in the process?
What do you think?
Do you have any questions about how decisions are made at Christ Church Cathedral? Does this make sense to you? Any other thoughts?
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